By:Scott Brinton
At first, folks got up from their seats slowly, one by one. Then they flooded in. Bernie Stein, a retired Mepham High School social studies teacher, was first to walk quietly down the Mepham auditorium's maroon-carpeted aisle to deposit a slip of paper in the basket, which sat on a small table beside the stage.
Rabbi Charles Klein, spiritual leader of the Merrick Jewish Centre, followed Stein. Then came the Rev. Perry Kirschbaum, pastor of St. John's Lutheran Church in Merrick, then Mary Ramo and Jim Rullo, both members of Bellmore-Merrick Parents for Change. Soon there was a short line of people leaving their hopes and thoughts in the basket.
It was an emotional moment during a 45-minute service to help comfort the Mepham High School community, which last year was rocked by revelations that three varsity football players sexually abused three ninth-grade squad members during a training camp in Pennsylvania.
The Bellmore-Merrick Interfaith Clergy Council organized the prayer service last Thursday to begin the healing process, which all agreed would take some time. About 100 people attended the ceremony, including Central District administrators such as Superintendent Dr. Thomas Caramore and Mepham Principal John Didden, several members of Bellmore-Merrick Parents for Change, victims' relatives and about 40 choral singers.
Klein opened the ceremony. "This is a free-will offering to a wounded community," the rabbi said. "We [the clergy council] believe deeply this is where we need to be. This [Mepham High School] is where healing and reconciliation begin. No other place carries the same meaning."
Klein said, "Healing does not require forgetting. Healing does not require absolution."
Healing, however, does require good will, he said.
Sister Peggy Tully, of Cur of Ars Roman Catholic Church in Merrick, used the metaphor of a cup to describe Mepham. The cup of compassion is chipped and broken now. But with time, she said, "The cup will be mended. In time, the cup will be raised."
Kirschbaum said, "Rebuilding broken trust calls for the power of God's grace."
The Rev. Thomas Phillip, pastor of Merrick's Community Presbyterian Church, offered a prayer: "Help us rebuild mutual trust with one another. Hear our prayer, oh Lord. Amen."
The Mepham chorus sang two songs - "Let It Be" and "Go the Distance" -- both of which evoked rousing ovations from the audience.
